Improvement in apparatus for unloading hay



UNrraD STATES PATENT Orifice@ GEORGE SMITH, OE PROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND, ASSIGNOR TO HIMSELE AND J. C'. DE LANY, OE DETROIT, MICHIGAN.

IMPROVEMENT IN APPARATUS FOR UNLOADING HAY.

To @ZZ whom it may concern,.-

Be it known that I, GEORGE SMITH, of Providence, in the county of Providence and State of Rhode Island, have invented a new and Improved Apparatus for Unloading Vagons of Hay and Elevating the Loads upon Stacks; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and-exact description thereof, reference being rhad to the accompanying drawings, making a part of this specication, in which- Figure l, Sheet l, is a view of the two sections ofthe sling spread out flat and connected together by a releasing device. Fig. 2, Sheet l, is a side view of the releasing device open. Eig. 3, Sheet 2, is a similar view of this device closed. Figs. 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8, Sheet l, are different sectional views, showing the construction ofthe releasing` device. Fig. 9, Sheet 2, is a perspective view of my sectional sling in the act of being elevated with a load. Eig. I0, Sheet 2, is a perspective view of the sling suspended and in the position which it assumes to discharge its load. Fig. ll, Sheet 2, is a perspective view, showing a mode of suspending the sling and its load by its elevating-rope, so as to move the load laterally from one place to another at the same time it is being elevated.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the several iigures.

This invention is designed for more perfectly carrying into effect the object set forth in my Letters Patent of the United States, numbered 83,667, to wit: the unloading of hay and other cut product from wagons, the raising of the loads or bundles to the required height, and the dropping of the loads upon stacks or in barn-lofts. In said Letters Patent I described a flexible sling made of longitudinal ropes or chains connected together in parallel lines, so as to form a single band for encompassing the hay in bundles; and in conjunction therewith I described a releasing and attaching device and a method of employing such device, (the elevating-rope and a pullcord,) whereby the bundle was bound tightly while suspended, and when raised to the required height it could be released and allowed to fall upon a stack.

Instead of constructing the sling or fiexible band in one piece, as above stated, the nature of my invention consists, first, in constructing the band or sling of two parts of the same or nearly the same length, and providing for attaching together those ends which are be.- neath the bundle, when suspended, by means of a releasing device, which is so constructed and provided with a pull-cord that the load can be discharged by effecting the detachment of the lower ends of the sling, leaving the two parts thereof suspended from and attached to the suspension-rope, as will be hereinafter eX- plained; secondly, in a releasing and attaching device adapted for asectional sling, composed of spring-jaws and a locking and tripping device applied to one end of one section of the sling, in combination with tongues having enlargements on their ends, and applied to a bar, to which one end of the other section of sling is fastened, said parts being so constructed as to afford a secure attachment for the ends of the band or sling, whether the sling be arranged upon a wagon or embracing a load, and at the same time affording acertainty in discharging the load when required, as will be hereinafter explained; thirdly, in combination of pulleys, both fixed and movable, with the suspension and draft rope used to elevate the load,where by the load can be elevated to the required height and then moved any required distance in a lateral direction by means of said rope,

and after the discharge of the load the sling and its accessories can be drawn back to the place from which it started, to repeat the operation, as will be hereinafter explained.

To enable others skilled in the art to understand my invention, I will describe its construction and operation.

In the accompanying drawings, Eigs. l, 9, 10, and 1l, I have represented my improved sectional sling or band, which consists of two sections, 'I T', of an equal or nearly equal length and of an equal width, Both sections are alike in construction, and are composed of longitudinal ropes or chains A Al A, connected in a suitable manner at their extremities, and separated by means of cross bars B B, through which these ropes or chains pass, and to which they are respectively secured by wedges, or in any other suitable manner. The length of the two sections combined should be such as will extend nearly around a body of hay, such as it may be desired shall constitute a load to be elevated. To the meeting ends of one section, T, a ring, G, is permanently attached, and to the opposite ends of this section a short bar, c', is attached by its three staples, c t v, so that this bar is parallel to the separating-bars B. To this bar d, and on its side opposite the attaching-staples t, tongues b b are permanently secured, which are preferably made of round metal with spherical enlargements or heads b', formed on their ends, as shown on Sheet l of the drawings. Two tongues for the bar a are deemed sufficient, although more may be used. The section T has a triangular loop, D, attached to one end, with a grooved or concave face-pulley, d, pivoted between its ends, as shown in Figs. 1, 9, and 10, for receiving the elevating draft-rope, as will be hereinafter explained. To the opposite end of this section T clamping-jaws are attached, having a locking and tripping dog, E, applied to them, as shown on Sheet l. This clamping and releasing device consists of two parallel jaws, c c, applied to straps c e e, so that they can be separated, as shown in Figs. 2, 5, 7, and 10, or shut, as shown in Figs. 3, 6, and 8. These jaws are equal in length to the length of the iingenbar a on one end of the section T, and they are designed for receiving between them in grooves or notches c c (see Fig. 2) the reduced portions of the ngers I) b, and forming a connection for the two lowermost ends of the sections T T, as shown in Figs. l, 9, 10, and 11. Thejaw a is secured permanently to the straps e e e, and the jaw a? is held in place by said loops or straps, but allowed up to and from the jaw a a suitable distance toinsure the escape from between the jaws of the heads b of fingers b when these jaws are separated, as shown in Figs. 2, 5, 7, and 10. Two pins, g g, which are fastened into the jaw a, pass loosely through holes made through jaw a2, and serve as guides for the latter, and also as means for keeping in place the interposed springs, s s, which spring will separate the jaws when dog E is in the position shown in Fig. 2. The eye-bolts or rivets t t t serve as attachments for the ropes or chains A A A, and also fasten bar a to its three straps e c c, as shown.

Between the ends of the intermediate strap, e', the dog E is pivoted by pin i, which dog consists of a cam-faced head, f, formed on the pivoted end of a curved arm or lever, to the free end of which pull-cordPis attached. The radii of cam-head f is of such varying length that in the act of moving the curved handle from the position indicated in Fig. 2 to the po sition indicated in Fig. 3 the jaws a c2 will be brought together and locked or held in this position by the flat face f/ on said cam-head bearing against the edge of j aw c2. When the dogv is started from the position last named by pulling cord l?, the springs s swill quickly open the jaws ce c2. This dog thus serves for locking the jaws together and holding fingers b b between them, and also for tripping the jaws, so as to allow the release of said fingers and the separation of the ends of sections T T, as shown in Fig. l0. If the two jaws are made of hard wood, as I prefer to have them, they will be faced with metal wherever it is required to prevent rapid wear. It will be seen that when the bar a" is attached to jaws a a2 by its fingers, b b" on these fingers will prevent their withdrawal, and as the two jaws are coniined together by the iiat face f on the camhead of dog E bears against the Hat edge of the jaw a2 the separation of the jaws will not occur unless the cord l? be pulled and dog E displaced. It will be seen that when the jaw a2 is released from its dog E the springs s s will positively open the jaws so to release the fingers with certainty.

The manner of loading a wagon with hay so as to have one sling between every load to be elevated by it is precisely the same as is fully described in the schedule annexed to my Letters Patent numbered 88,667, and need not be described in this speciiication.

The elevating draft-rope S may be hung from a pulley attached to a beam or derrick, and provided with a windlass for raising the loads, or horses may be used instead of the windlass for elevating the loads; or, where it is desirable or necessary to move a load some distance from the wagon, or to stack the hayin one corner of a barn, an arrangement of tackle is employed, as will be hereinafter described. To

apply the load to be raised to the elevatingrope S, the hook 7L, which is permanently fastened to the free end of this rope, is passed through the loop D, carried over the load lying flatly upon the connected sections T T, and attached to the ring C, as shown in Figs. 9 and 10. The operation of raising is then commenced, previous to which, however, the resistance offered by the weight of the load will cause the sling and elevating-rope to be drawn tightly about the load, so as to compress it into a compact bundle, and thus hold it tightly. When the bundle thus held is raised to the proper point, the attendant pulls cord I., and detaches those ends of the sling which are beneath the point of suspension, thus allowing the sections T T to part and the load to drop. So quickly will the sections be parted when cord P is pulled that these sections will fly apart and allow the unconned hay to spread out evenly upon the stack As the'upper ends of the two sections of sling remain attached to the elevating-rope after the discharge of the load, they may be drawn back to the wagon by pulling on cord P and slackening the elevating-rope S, and detached from hook h preparatory to elevating another load.

In Fig. 11 I have shown an arrangement by which the horse or other power required to elevate a load can also be utilized for moving the load any required distance from the wagon. The load is suspended from the elevatingdraftrope S by means of a double pulley-block, K,

, constructed with two pulleys, a n', arranged one above the other, and a hook, p, fastened to the lower end of the block K. Hook p is attached to ring C on section T, and the hook h on rope S also attached to this ring. vThe rope S proceeds from hoolrh, passes through loop D, thence beneath and over pulley n in block K, thence oifto and around a pulley in a xed block, J', thence it is carried back again and beneath pulley n in block K to and over a pulley in a fixed block, J, from which latter the ropeS is carried down, passed around a pulley near the ground, and attached to ahorse or windlass. The two pulley-blocks J J may be fastened at any required distance apart to the rafters of a barn, and the pulley J should be located over or near the point for depositing the loads. It will be seen that by this simple arrangement ofthe elevating-rope S and the traveling` pulley-block K the same power which is employed for elevating a load can also be used for moving the load to the required point for depositing it, for by continuing to pull upon the rope S after the load has been raised the load will be cans( d to moved toward the pulley-block J Vhen the load is dropped, the sections of the sling, together with the traveling block K, can be returned to the place from which they started by pulling in the cord attached to the releasing-dog.

Having described my invention, what I claim as new,l and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. A central discharging hay-sling, composed of two detachable flexible sections, when the sections are arranged as shown, and connected together by one of their respective ends, and the free end of one of the sections is provided with a pulley or its equivalent, and the free end of the other section is provided with a ring or eye, substantially as described.

2. An attaching and a releasing device consisting of spring-jaws, a locking and tripping dog or its equivalent, and a bar, a, with headed fingers applied to it, combined substantially as and for the purposes described.

3. The combination, with a sectional or central dischargehay-sling, of loop D, ring C, and a detachable fastening and compressing-rope, S, substantially as and for the purposes described.

4. The arrangement of the traveling pulleyblock K, iiXed pulley-blocks J J, and elevating and compressing rope S, in combination with the sling T T, which opens and discharges at the center, substantially as described.

GEORGE SMITH.

Vitnesses:

R. T. CAMPBELL, E. WV. ANDERsoN. 

